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Octopuses are really incredible creatures. They diverged from humans in the evolutionary tree hundreds of millions of years ago. Our common ancestor would have
by rland 8y ago
Octopuses are really incredible creatures. They diverged from humans in the evolutionary tree hundreds of millions of years ago. Our common ancestor would have been a very dumb animal. Their brain structure is so different: 8 semi-autonomous tentacles, with one sort of central coordinating body. What could it possibly be like to experience the world that way? They're probably the "peak" of intelligence with the most prominence, along with humans and intelligent swarming insects like bees and termites. I think it's really interesting. Is is it really possible to measure this kind of intelligence? Can we ever know just how smart they are?
And, of course, they're just interesting creatures regardless. Their bodies is flexible, yet strong, like one continuous muscle. Each tentacle has a slightly different "personality;" for a single octopus, some of its tentacles are more adventurous while others are more shy. They can change the color of their entire body, and do, for reasons we haven't figured out yet. They mate once, after which the female guards the egg cache without moving from the spot until she withers away.
Everything I read about them absolutely floors me. They're the closest thing we have to an intelligent alien species.
- Latteland 8y agoI don't understand what the peak of intelligence means if that is termites, bees, humans? What about dolphins, dogs, not to mention chimpanzees, other great apes are likely smarter then them, but it will take some clever tests and clever categorization of intelligence to understand their sense.
- rland 8y agoThe prominence of the peak. Like how Denali is taller than the mountains around it, but Everest is still the tallest. We're quite close to dolphins and killer whales, so the essence of their intelligence is easier for us to understand, because they are more like us. Bees, termites, ants, etc. are really interesting because any individual is pretty stupid, but the entire swarm is complex and intelligent.
- arcticfox 8y agolocal maxima, in other words. Humans being the global maximum, on Earth at least.
- lucascantor 8y agoTom Scott has a great video on this topic (what counts as a mountain? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8P5a1uqIMw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8P5a1uqIMw)
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- srtjstjsj 8y agoPeak meaning relative to evolutionarily nearby organisms, by analogy to mountain peaks
- otabdeveloper2 8y ago> 8 semi-autonomous tentacles, with one sort of central coordinating body. What could it possibly be like to experience the world that way? Humans have two semi-autonomous brain hemispheres, each with a slightly different personality.
- williamdclt 8y agoIsn't this largely a myth? (actually not sure, I've seen articles going both ways and I'm not a neurologist myself)
- agumonkey 8y agothe decentralized aspect seems key here. It's like a tiny team operating in parallel. Each don't need to be extremely efficient if the coordination reached a good enough threshold.
- TheOtherHobbes 8y agoThe semi-autonomous part isn't that unfamiliar. I don't need to concentrate on finger or hand movements while I'm typing this. My brain thinks about the words while it delegates the details to other systems. There's an incredible amount of processing involved in operating human limbs which we're mostly unaware of. I'd guess octopus consciousness is similar - goal oriented, with delegation. I'm mot sure, given the relatively small distances involved, if the slight physical separation of the central and distributed brains would make a huge difference to having an all-in-one model with distinct areas squished up inside a single unit. But I absolutely agree - they are amazing and fascinating. If they were more social they'd probably be running the planet.
- rwmj 8y agoAlso their esophagus/gut passes through their brain, which is hoop shaped. They have this weird characteristic in common with other molluscs, and it's a good example of how evolution can't "fix" obvious problems (see also: Laryngeal nerve).
- hadsed 8y agoDespite this very early branching, you might be surprised to know that many of the chemicals found in their brains are found in ours. And they have the same (or very similar) effects. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/octopuses-on-ecstasy-prefer-each-other-to-chewbacca/570763/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/09/octopuse... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-mind-of-an-octopus/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-mind-of-an-oc...
- blacksmith_tb 8y agoI was surprised to see the NYT say "males and females don’t stay together for long or care for their young" in light of the female's ultimately fatal guard duty for their eggs[1]. While I suppose that is technically "not caring for young", it certainly outdoes most other invertebrates. Personally I am impressed that cephalopods can be as intelligent and resourceful as they are while being cold-blooded, though I suppose tropical species don't suffer much from that problem. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Reproduction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Reproduction